Morning Reading List, 10.10.08

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We’ve got your morning mix of media Muesli after the jump…

163 years ago, the U.S. Naval Academy opened. 5 years ago, Rush Limbaugh announced that he was entering rehab for a painkiller addicition. 4 years ago, Christopher Reeves died. You think the “that one” comment by McCain was overblown. Check out today’s White House Photo of the Day from Time. Today’s “Angry Journalist” rant of the day: “The EE just announced another round of layoffs, and I wasn’t one of them.”

The New York Observer reports, “One more addition to Graydon Carter’s stable: longtime Atlantic writer and Blackhawk Down author Mark Bowden is dropping his exclusive contract with The Atlantic and signing a two-story-a-year contract with Vanity Fair.”

Reflections of a Newsosaur reports, “With desperate times demanding desperate measures, a growing number of newspapers are considering the most desperate measure of all: Skipping print editions on the days of the week when ad sales are the weakest.”

A release announced, “According to Nielsen Media Research data, ‘Meet the Press’ was the most-watched Sunday morning public affairs program, winning the week ending October 5 in all categories. ‘Meet the Press’ was No. 1, averaging 4.256 million total viewers”

A release announced, “Face The Nation with Bob Schieffer posted hefty double-digit percentage increases in all key measures last Sunday (5), sustaining the momentum established in the first week of the new television season the week before. The CBS News broadcast was up significantly versus the same day last year: +33% in households (2.4/07 from 1.8/05), +43% in viewers (3.24m from 2.27m) and +43% in adults 25-54 (1.0/05 from 0.7/04).”

Bloomberg reports, “The Federal Communications Commission is investigating whether broadcasters improperly failed to tell viewers that military analysts discussing the Iraq war had ties to the Defense Department and its contractors.”

Boston Herald reports, “Bob Schieffer has final try to rein in candidates”

Washington Times’ Inside The Beltway reports, “Fox News White House Correspondent Bret Baier and his wife, Amy, helped the Central Intelligence Agency kick off its Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) at CIA headquarters in McLean this week, although the couple’s 15-month-old son, Paul, clearly stole the show. The toddler, who was born with life-threatening heart defects, scampered into CIA Director Michael V. Hayden’s office and played with his commemorative coin collection before heading back downstairs with his parents for the rally, during which he blew kisses to the audience.”

TNR’s Michael Crowley writes on The Stump, “The ‘Hardball’ host delivers the quote of the night: ‘John McCain, when he smiles, has a somewhat menacing quality.’ True. And not exactly what you look for in a successful politican, is it?”

A release announced, “‘CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,’ launched last year to spotlight ordinary citizens accomplishing extraordinary deeds, will air on Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT). Hosted by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, the program will air globally on CNN, CNN International and CNN en EspaÃ±ol. Award-winning producer/director Joel Gallen returns to executive produce the program. Celebrity presenters and performers will be announced in the coming weeks.”

The Boston Phoenix asks, “As the candidates prep for the final debate, it’s a fitting time to ask: why do some journalistic conflicts of interest become scandals, while others get almost no attention at all?”

Don’t miss Poynter Institute’s seminar, “From Report to Column to Blog,” December 1-5. The deadline for applications is October 20. For more info, click here.

The Minsider reports, “In order to get the news out yesterday about Tina Brown’s soft launch of TheDailyBeast.com, I neglected to mention the range of competitors Ms. B. takes on in this new venture. In addition to the very similar Huffington Post, Daily Beast must snarl down Google and Yahoo News as well as another old hand at media controversy, Michael Wolff.”

The New York Post reports, “New York magazine Editor-in-Chief Adam Moss was among the no-shows at this year’s American Magazine Conference, but his magazine dominated the third annual best covers award handed out by the American Society of Magazine Editors.”

Gawker reports, “The publication of a relatively juicy interview with Jennifer Lopezâ€”rejected by an unnamed fashion magazineâ€”reminds us that magazine articles are often dropped not because they’re bad but because they’re good. Orâ€”more oftenâ€”simply because they’ve been overtaken by events or clash with some other article or because an insecure editor has over-commissioned. (Tina Brown, who published Kevin Sessums’ J-Lo profile on her new Daily Beast website, was notorious for assigning three times the articles she ran.) Anyway, here’s an alternative for journalists who’ve spent weeks slaving on an article only to see it spiked: Gawker’s unspiked files.”

Check out one of the latest exchange with White House Press Secretary Dana Perino:

Q: John McCain said recently that he knows how to get Osama bin Laden. And a
couple of months ago he said that he knows how to improve our capabilities so that we would capture bin Laden. Has Senator McCain shared his knowledge with the President?

MS. PERINO: Maybe you haven’t been here — I’ve been very astute at not getting involved in the 2008 election, and I’m not going to start now.

Q: Well, it has nothing to do with the election.

MS. PERINO: Yes, it does. It has everything to do with the election. That’s exactly why you’re asking the question, and I’m not going to answer it.

“ICFJ invites you to bid on the striking photographs in our collection: The Power of Elections. Signed by award-winning photojournalists such as David Burnett, Arthur Grace and David Hume Kennerly, these images can be yours. … The online bidding will run until Nov. 10, 2008, followed by a silent auction during the ICFJ Awards Dinner on Nov. 12 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. Bidders may place absentee bids for the silent auction on the day of the dinner. Winners will be notified on Nov. 14.”

Jeff Jarvis’s Buzz Machine reports, “Paul Farhi of the Washington Post issues a resounding apologia for journalists in the American Journalism Review, arguing that the fall of newspapers isnâ€™t their fault. Then Roy Greenslade leaps up with a resounding hear! hear! They echo a defense earlier this year from Adrian Monck (who had decreed, ‘The crops did not fail because we offended the gods’). Though I respect these three men, I must call bullshit. The fall of journalism is, indeed, journalistsâ€™ fault.”

The Pew Weekly News Interest Index shows, “Strong majorities of the public say the press has been fair to John McCain, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. But fewer than four-in-ten (38%) say the press has been fair to Sarah Palin. Many more believe the press has been too tough on Palin (38%) than say it has been too easy (21%).”

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